A STUDY OF THE RELATIONSHIP OF STORYTELLING ABILITY AND READING-COMPREHENSION IN 4TH AND 6TH GRADE AFRICAN-AMERICAN CHILDREN

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the relation o f storytelling skills to achievement in reading comprehension in Afric an-American children. Socioeconomic status (SES);gender and developmen tal level of children's stories were examined as predictors of reading achievement. A total of 80 children in the fourth and sixth grades se rved as subjects. Results indicated that correlations of the narrative variables with reading achievement were significant for story level ( 0.37) and clauses per T-unit (0.33). These results are discussed relat ive to the effect of oral language on academic achievement and the imp ortance of examining this relationship in culturally and linguisticall y diverse groups.